Earthshake
by SugarRos
Summary: COMPLETE:: Canon:: *WINNER BEST DARK/DRAMA 2009* Natural Disasters are nothing to laugh at... and so Kagome realizes as she's trapped, hundreds of feet beneath the rubble of what was once her school, with her classmates dying one by one, and absolutely no hope of rescue.
1. Reclamation

A/N: Hello everyone.

Welcome to Earthshake. Why not just call it earthquake? Because Earthshake is just a word I could see everyone in the past using, I dunno. And I wanted a unique title. No confusing this title with anything else! Believe me, I checked! Ha!

Anyway, originally this fanfiction was supposed to be composed of four chapters, but when I sent it out to my beta, she insisted that the last two were all I needed, and that, since I had written this story starting with the ending first, all the information was there, that the beginning was unnecessary.

So here I am, posting up a fanfiction that is only two chapters long, but one that will at least be finished in a timely matter (the second chapter is indeed completed)!

-SugarRos

.o0o0o0o0o.

**Dedication:** Earthshake as a whole is dedicated to Kaeru Shisho for being a wonderful beta for this story.

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha and the gang do not belong to me. But maybe one day, when I take over the world and all, I'll enslave Takahashi-sensei and demand she hand over their souls so that I might force them to do my bidding….

.o0o0o0o0o.

Earthshake: Reclamation

.o0o0o0o0o

…_drip…._

…_drip…._

…_drip…._

Kagome watched, wide-eyed, as the pipe that had broken in two and jammed between two large concrete slabs dripped water only inches from her ear, feeling the cool liquid splash onto her lobe.

…_drip…._

…_drip…._

The cold that had settled over her was gone. She wasn't shivering anymore. It was strange, she thought she would have died from the cold by now, but she'd grown warmer as time wore on. Her teeth weren't chattering anymore. Or were they? She honestly couldn't tell. She couldn't really feel her teeth. Or lips, for that matter. In fact, she felt as if her entire face was numb. It scared her that she couldn't feel much of anything, that her legs had stopped throbbing hours ago, and that she knew she was slowly losing the feeling in her right arm.

…_drip…._

She could feel the water dripping by her head, though, and that had to count for something. At least her ear wasn't numb.

She prayed that she had only just gone into shock.

…Had she? She couldn't for the life of her remember what her summer survival class had taught her. Had they covered earthquake survival? Why hadn't she paid more attention in that class?

…Oh yeah. Because she'd been an arrogant little fool, thinking that traveling with Inuyasha gave her all the survival training she'd ever need for anything.

In reality, she had no idea how to survive without him. She was just useless, relying on him to tell her how to get them all through the night when it wasn't clear if he would make it.

It killed Kagome more than anything to think that her mind was slowly breaking apart, and her will to live slipped away little by little.

Determination and a positive attitude, even in the midst of all the pain and blood and screaming around her was what had kept her going in the beginning. Of course, in the beginning, her classmates had still been alive. Severely injured, but alive. But as the voices dwindled and expired with time, so did Kagome's hopes.

And then there was the boy that lay next to her, his breath frozen within his own lungs.

She hadn't yet let go of Hojou's hand.

The blood that had been seeping slowly from his lower half had long since reached her, and it soaked into her clothes, pooled around her head and shoulders. She couldn't move away from it if she'd wanted to. She was trapped.

The voices of her other classmates were diminishing slowly, and Kagome couldn't help but imagine how they were all slowly slipping away, the way Hojou had slipped away right next to her.

A tear escaped from her eye and slid down her temple, mixing in with the blood in her hair.

Funny.

She hadn't thought she could cry anymore.

This could not be happening. After the years and years of battling some of the most evil, dangerous beings that ever graced the face of the earth, she was going to die by way of a natural disaster. Not eaten alive or clawed apart or possessed-- just a single shake of the earth, and she was down. How strange that she had always thought of herself as a strong person, able to hold her own in any situation.

This situation, however, was one she was not handling so well. Hojou was gone, his cold hand still clasped in her own, his blood soaking into her skin, and all she could think of was that she could not possibly make it out alive now that everyone else was gone.

Usually she was sure that Inuyasha would come crashing in and save her, as he always did, but she had soon realized that this was an instance that would leave him stuck, unable to do anything. She was, after all, buried deep underneath tons and tons of concrete and metal. Would Inuyasha even be able to sniff her out?

How long had it been since Hojou had left her here, alone?

She'd lost track of the time. She could tell it was daytime out; there were small pinpricks of sunlight filtering in through tiny gaps in the wreckage, but as for how long they'd been trapped under all the mass…

She was so thirsty.

"-lp me…"

Kagome wasn't sure at first if she was imagining another voice or not. She'd stopped calling out for others hours ago. No one had answered her. She had thought them all dead. Fear crept up into her mind that maybe she herself was slowly slipping away. She involuntarily gave Hojou's lifeless hand a squeeze. Oh Gods, please let someone still be alive.

The voice spoke again, sounding choked and dry. "Hurts… help… Help me."

Oh, thank whatever heavens were out there that someone else was alive. Kagome opened her mouth to call out, only to let out a gargled, pained noise.

She was so thirsty.

Purposely creating saliva in her mouth to wet her throat, she coughed a few times before calling back, weakly at first, then a bit stronger. "H-hello…? Hello? Is someone there?" It was such a strange feeling, not being able to move at all, and it frustrated her that she couldn't turn her head to get a better idea of where the other girl was.

It was a few seconds before she got an answer. "….Who is that?" The voice called.

"Higurashi Kagome. I'm trapped, I can't move." She called back, getting used to her voice again.

"Kagome? It's Yumi! What happened?"

She barely registered the other girls' weeping as relief washed over her. Oh, Yumi. Thank God Yumi was alive. "Yumi, are you okay?"

She waited for a reply that didn't come. "…Yumi?"

"Kagome, I think I'm hurt."

Kagome took in a shuddering breath, determined to at least keep one other person alive with her, although she couldn't tell anymore if it was because she was worried for her friend, or simply worried for her own sanity. She couldn't stand being alone anymore, trapped down there with the dead littered around her. "Where are you hurt?"

The reply that came back was gurgled. "Ugh… um... my... my shoulder. I- I think there's something stuck through it."

Oh god. "Yumi, don't look at it, just concentrate on my voice, okay? Keep talking to me." She couldn't help the way her voice shook. She heard her friend sob as she bit back tears herself.

"Ka- …Kagome, I don't think… I mean…"

"Don't look at it Yumi. Let's talk about something else. Like what we're going to do once we're out of here." She smiled to herself, knowing what the answer would be.

"Once… we're out…" Yumi muttered, her voice barely audible.

"Yeah, once we're out." Kagome repeated. "You know what I'm going to do?"

"…..What?"

A sort of flashback overcame Kagome. A memory of when she first saw Inuyasha, pinned to the Goshinboku, as peaceful as she'd ever seen him, unconscious to the world. And then the last giant battle they'd been in, raging against Naraku from the acidic belly of a Youkai, and Inuyasha had leaned over, and spoke into her ear, his eyes glazing over with a look she'd only seen a select few times before. _"Kagome… For just a bit longer… please support me."_

Support him. She supported Inuyasha more than he could ever know. She took in as deep a breath she could to steady her voice. "When I get out of here, I'm going to tell Inuyasha that I care for him more than he'll ever know." Her heart ached even as she spoke the words. All the optimism in the world wouldn't help the current situation. Most of her classmates had died, Hojou right beside her, while his lips had still been pressed up against her own. Yumi sounded as if she were on the edge herself.

How long could she possibly survive, buried in this classroom graveyard? How could she possibly go on?

Now Kagome wasn't the bravest person in the whole world. In fact, she tended to be frightened a whole lot, especially during her long visits to the Feudal Era. But no one else in the class had been battling giant Youkai for years as she had.

And that counted for some sort of bravery, right?

Well, it counted for stamina, at least, because she was still alive.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She could still be strong for Yumi. Yumi wasn't dead; there was still hope. "It's your turn now, Yumi. What are you going to do?"

"…."

"Yumi?"

"…."

"Oh Gods…." Kagome could feel another sob rise in her throat, choking her.

Not again.

How many of her friends was she to see die slow, painful deaths? How many times was she to have hope yanked out from under her?

…How long could she possibly survive down here alone?

Panic built up in her mind. She was going to die down here, alone and in pain, surrounded by the empty bodies of her classmates and friends. Someone else had to be alive. Someone. _Anyone_. There had to be a person trapped under here with her that was breathing as she was.

"H-hello?" She called out, trying to twist her neck to see around her. "Anyone out there?"

She was again met with silence.

"Anyone…" She cried out, her breath hitching. "Anyone, please!"

Nothing.

"Somebody!..." She yelled as loud as she could, her voice cracking from dehydration. "Anybody!"

Kagome was alone, buried under the tons and tons of rubble that was once her school. The last frail, little human to take in breath as the spirits of her schoolmates left one by one.

She was alone.

.o0o0o0o0o.

Inuyasha growled and paced back and forth in the small hut that he'd just finished re-building.

Something just wasn't right.

Why the hell was this feeling of pure, utter _dread_ consuming his every thought? Why couldn't he calm his beating heart? Why did he feel like something terrible had happened?

The strange thing was, he'd been feeling like this for the past two days now, and he just could not figure out what it was that was bothering him so much. He'd taken a run through his forest to find out if there were any other youkai feeling uneasy, but they'd all been calm. Even Naraku was strangely inactive in his evil doings.

Feeling like he was going crazy, he'd even sought out Myouga to ask him if he'd heard of anything foreboding coming. The flea had been easy enough to find, which was a sign within itself that no danger was coming his way. Myouga had gone so far as to tell Inuyasha that he might want to consider just taking a rest and lounging around for a few days until Kagome came back.

But the feeling wouldn't _let_ him rest. The feeling was all consuming and obsessive, and it had finally gotten to the point where Inuyasha could think of nothing else but the doomed wariness that kept rushing through him. Warning him.

Something was definitely wrong.

What the hell was going on?

And it had now been a full day since the deadline Kagome had promised to be back. Her test couldn't have taken this long. She was never at her class thing when it became dark, he knew that much.

Why was she so late?

Usually, Inuyasha would sulk a few days before finally deciding to drag Kagome back himself, but this was a different situation. The feeling that consumed Inuyasha grew worse with each passing second of Kagome's absence.

Something was completely, totally, absolutely _wrong_.

"Inuyasha, must you pace so? You're making us all on edge." Miroku sat in the far corner of the hut, his staff resting comfortably in his lap and arms, eyes following the hanyou's fluid back-and-forth movements.

"Yeah, well you fucking _should_ be on edge. Somethin' ain't right." He stopped his pacing and pulled open the door flap, taking a good look outside before continuing on with his erratic walking pattern.

"Sounds like paranoia to me." Muttered Sango under her breath as she finished helping Shippou whittle a piece of wood.

"I ain't got fuckin' paranoia." He snapped back without hesitation.

Shippou blinked from Sango's side. "What's paranoia?"

"Don't worry about it, cause I ain't got it!"

"Sometimes people worry about things that don't exist." Sango tried to explain, grinding her teeth together to keep from smashing Inuyasha's head in with her boomerang. "When it becomes an obsession, it's called paranoia."

"Oooh," The kitsune nodded. "You mean like when Miroku worries about having a child? Cause we all know _that's_ never going to happen."

Sango couldn't help but let out a snigger at that as Miroku cleared his throat loudly. "No, Shippou," he corrected, "What I worry about is a legitimate, real problem. Inuyasha, on the other hand, is imagining things that aren't there."

Inuyasha let out a warning growl. "Shut the fuck up, pervert, before I take a swipe at you!" He snarled, taking the few short steps to tower over the monk. "You're making it sound like I'm seeing things. I ain't seeing things, I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"What do you think that is?" Miroku asked back, his gaze never wavering. "You've checked out all the possibilities. Other than Kagome, you've-"

"She's really late." Shippou interrupted, ignoring Sango's attempts at keeping him quiet. "Do you think Kagome's in danger?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "She was fine when I checked on her a couple days ago. What the hell could happen in two days?" He didn't miss the meaningful glance between his companions.

Kaede finally spoke up for the first time. "Inuyasha, might it be a wise idea to check on the lass again? Find out if she's well? She ought to be, but it can't hurt to know for sure."

Inuyasha shook his head. It wasn't like he hadn't thought of doing that, but Kagome had warned him not to come after her while she was taking her tests or she'd sit him until he couldn't have pups. And as much as he wasn't too fond of the subject at this moment in his life, he sure as hell wanted pups in the future. He didn't much like the idea of her taking away his ability to have them. Besides, she had warned him that she might have to take even more tests, something about making stuff up? Make-up things? Make-up testing? Something like that. It was just all tests. And she didn't want him there.

But Kaede saying out loud what his worst fear was shook him to his core, and it was as if he suddenly _knew_ that it truly _was_ Kagome who was in danger.

Without warning, he turned and threw aside the door flap, glancing over his shoulder at his friends. "I'll be back with Kagome soon. No one do anything stupid, you hear me? Don't leave the village until I get back, I don't want to have to come back and realize I was right and then have to save you lot from some stupid demon, alright?" And without waiting for an answer, he was out of the hut and running along the path as if his life depended on it.

Sango let out a visible sigh of relief once he was gone from sight. "Well, those were a tense few days, hm?" She tilted her head down at Shippou and tried her best to give him a calming smile.

"Indeed." The monk agreed, standing and brushing the bottom hem of his robe, his staff jingling. "Something strange has overcome him. Hopefully seeing that Kagome is safe and well will calm him a bit and get him to relax. Heavens knows we all need it."

Kaede grunted from her position on the floor. She hadn't moved an inch. "I'm not so sure he's entirely wrong in worrying." She muttered, more to herself than the others.

Sango and Miroku shared a quizzical glance before Sango addressed the old woman. "What do you mean, Kaede-sama? Do you feel something also?"

"Not entirely, no." She shook her head, her eyebrows drawing together in deep thought. "But it is not like Inuyasha to make a fuss over nothing…"

"Well, the earthshake is still fresh in everyone's mind." Sango added, biting her lower lip in a nervous manor. "It could just be him over-reacting to it…"

Kaede sighed, and moved to get up and fetch more firewood. "Ah, well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see when Inuyasha is back."

Sango and Miroku shared another glance. Somehow, Kaede's words hadn't comforted them in the least.

.o0o0o0o0o.

"Edelweiss…"

'_Breathe in… Breathe out…'_

"Edelweiss…"

'_Breathe in… Breathe out…'_

"Every morning… you… greet me..."

'_Just BREATHE.'_

"Small… and white… clean… and bright…" Kagome's voice was hoarse, her mouth dry, her throat sore. She could only whisper the lullaby her mother used to sing her to sleep as a child.

"You… look happy… to… meet me…" Memories of her mother bending over her bed and tucking her in flooded her head, and she choked out a dry sob as she willed herself to stay conscious. "Blossom… of snow may… you bloom… and grow…"

'_Please keep breathing.'_

"Bloom… and grow… forever…" Memories of her brother being born, of his first words, memories of her Grandfather, her father that she'd barely known. Memories of her friends, of her teachers. …Of Hojou…

"Edelweiss…" Her voice seemed distant now. She wasn't sure if it was her still singing or if someone else had taken over for her. "Edelweiss…" Memories of Inuyasha hit her, regrets of never telling him _just_ how much he meant to her.

"…Bless… …my…"

That's when Kagome Higurashi passed out, dead to the world.

.o0o0o0o0o.

Inuyasha felt the cool passing of time shift as he landed softly at the bottom of the well.

Instantly, he knew something was wrong.

"What the-?" He yelped, the shock of the freezing cold water that rose up to mid-calf making him jump out to the edge of the well as fast as he was able. He stared down into the well that _should_ have been dried up. "What the _hell_?" He muttered, and leaned his head into the mouth of the well, getting a good sniff of the dark liquid that pooled around the bottom.

The water just _being_ there was strange, to say the least, but it smelled strange, also. Not normal. Like it had an extremely high iron base. Iron. That's what he smelled. But that wasn't common in most water, was it? It was so strong… And the well itself shouldn't have had water in it at all. It didn't sit right in his mind.

The shock had worn off now, and Inuyasha lifted his chin up, his nose sniffing the air. It wasn't just the water that was strange. It was the air, too. Something about it… wasn't right. It was something _other_ than the horrible pollution smell. Something about it made his uneasiness grow even worse. He had to see if Kagome was okay.

He took the well steps two at a time, and paused in front of the small wooden door, bending down to peer through a small crack. His eyes gazed out into the grounds of the shine, his ears twitching as he scanned the landscape. He couldn't see anything out of place, no one was around the yard, and he couldn't hear anything wrong. It was a bit more quiet than usual, but other than that, everything seemed to be in order.

Still, something inside screamed at him to be careful. Something was definitely wrong.

Sliding the door open as slowly as he could, he took a few tentative steps out into the grass, making his way stealthily towards Kagome's house. His ears twitched in the direction of the building, listening intently for any sounds coming from inside.

Again, warning signs went off in his head as he realized there wasn't a single bit of light shining from those electric-type-fire things Kagome called light bulbs. Usually this meant everyone was asleep, but it was still pretty early in the evening. They should be having dinner about now or something, not sleeping.

He repressed a growl deep in his throat as he debated in his head whether to go in through Kagome's window or take the front door. He stood for a few good moments weighing his options before he walked tentatively towards the door, crouching down as far as he could while moving steadily towards it.

Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks as he realized the front door was open. Kagome had explained to him once how humans locked their doors to keep predators at bay, at which he'd scoffed at the idea that a mere wooden plank could possibly stop any predator from intruding into the giant hut. Kagome had merely shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "It keeps human predators out well enough. More so than if they could just walk on in, right?"

Frowning at the memory, Inuyasha slowly reached a clawed hand out and pushed a little at the door, peeking in as it slowly creaked open. Again, the feeling of immediate danger filled his mind, and he backed away from the opening. He still couldn't smell or sense anyone inside, but he at least wanted to go in from an entrance he was used to. With that thought, he hopped up into the tree next to the roof and leaped over to Kagome's window, which was closed except for the small crack she usually kept open when she was in her time.

He slid his fingers through the opening and lifted the glass panel up, using caution not to shatter it, and ducked through the tight space, standing on the ledge inside her room. He stood stock-still, listening, breathing in anything that might have been out of place, anyone that shouldn't have been there.

Again, nothing.

He stepped down onto the carpet and made his way towards the bedroom door, grabbing hold of the handle and opening it not unlike he had the front, peeking out cautiously, peering with his eyes. Moonlight flooded down the dark hallway, but again, nothing was amiss. Stepping out into the hallway, he made a beeline for the upstairs bathroom, which was already open, and took a quick peek inside, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Quickly he checked her family member's bedrooms to find those empty as well. Satisfied with his scan of the upper level, he made his way down the steps, glancing into the kitchen. A bowl of ramen had been left, half-eaten, on the table, and the large box Kagome explained kept food cold was open. He took the two steps to the fridge and shut it closed before moving to the ramen and taking a sniff.

It was old. One or two days old. Maybe three.

That was strange. Kagome's mom never left anything like that out. Annoyed that he couldn't figure out if any of this meant something horrible _had_ happened or not, he turned on his heel and stomped into the living room, throwing himself onto the couch the way he'd seen Kagome do the few times she'd been frustrated.

A loud, warning bark ripped from his throat as he jumped off the couch and grabbed the hilt of Teissaiga. The large box across from him had sprung to life, scaring the ever-loving-crap out of him.

Seconds later he realized what had happened. The small rectangular-shaped box had been on the couch and he'd sat on it, accidentally pressing the button to turn the bigger, square box on. Now, two people spoke from the glass screen, using words he didn't understand, while writing scrolled across the bottom that he couldn't read. He was about to shut the damned thing off, when they used a word he _did_ understand.

"-Eri Yataki, Seto Ito, Kagome Higurashi, as well as hundreds of other students are _still_ buried under hundreds of pounds of rubble." The female on the screen whom Kagome's name had tumbled out of was shaking her head as the male picked up where she left off.

"It's been three days already, and rescue workers are already losing hope as the families of these students can only stand by and wait, hoping their child is the one to come out alive and breathing next."

The female nodded. "That's right, if you're just joining us now, it was three days ago that an earthquake, 7.0 on the richter scale ripped through Mid-Tokyo, destroying most of the city. Luckily it passed by the suburbs, but it left most of Tokyo buried. Including Sukikyo Academy, a local high school. The school caved in on itself, burying hundreds of students underground. With no way of knowing who is dead or alive, families rushed down to the site hoping that their child is not one of the unlucky ones."

Inuyasha couldn't understand most of it. But he could understand enough. Kagome Higurashi. Earthquake. Buried.

"Fuck!!" He cursed out, throwing the remote to let out his frustration. He knew it. He fucking _knew_ something was wrong, and it had taken him three _fucking_ days to realize that it just might be Kagome in _her_ time that was in danger, and not Kagome in _his_ time. Everyone thought he'd been panicked before, but now, as the horror of what had happened sank in, the panic rose up into his chest and sent his mind racing.

He spun and shot out of the house at full speed, ignoring the fact that his youkai features were clearly visible to the human eyes, and sniffed the air as he reached the top of the shrine steps.

Of course, he couldn't smell Kagome at all. Sulfur and blood and fumes and fire burned at his senses. He didn't really need to smell her, however, because he knew how to find her school; he'd been there before. Without wasting another second, he dashed through the deserted streets and ran full-speed toward the giant building he had come to despise over the years. The humid air whipped through his hair, sending the mass tumbling behind him, pushing against his haori. Had he ever ran so fast in his life? Had he ever been so scared? He couldn't remember. The only thing he could think of was Kagome.

_Kagome._

See if he'd ever let Kagome go to her stupid school again.

It took less than a minute to reach Kagome's school, but the slow rise of nightfall had already claimed the sky and a haze of dust hovered over the broken building. Inuyasha froze a few feet behind the massive crowd that had gathered around the destruction. It really _had_ collapsed in on itself. Families of those buried beneath the rubble screamed and cried openly in their grief.

He flattened his ears against his head, not because of the human keening, but because of the cacophony of noise from giant machines Inuyasha had never seen before working unstintingly around the wreckage. They made extremely loud, annoying sounds that grated his nerves more than he thought possible.

"Dammit!" He growled out, rage tearing out of his throat. "How the hell are _those_ things going to save Kagome? They'll _crush_ her before they save her!" He ignored those standing closest to him who gave him strange looks at his outburst and as slowly as he possibly could stand to, made his way through the crowd.

He felt invisible, his strange features ignored by the throngs too consumed by despair to really him. He sniffed the air, trying to pinpoint Kagome's family, who, he was pretty sure, would be in the crowd, worrying like the rest. When he located their scent, he breathed out in relief, and growled out under his breath. "They should be able to explain the situation better than anyone on that fucking box!"

Eager to get to them, he had to force himself not to throw people out of his way. He exerted a great deal of restraint and made his way carefully through the throngs of huddling people. Close to the front of the crowd, he spotted Kagome's mother with her head on the old grandpa and holding the small boy close to her stomach as he wrapped his arms around her tight. Inuyasha was close enough to smell their individual tears, and for a split second, he didn't want to head over to them. Obviously, the news wasn't good…

"Kagome is still alive. She's still alive," he muttered repeatedly, but how could he possibly think otherwise? Without being able to separate her scent from everything else around him, he couldn't be sure of anything. Repeating to himself that she was, indeed, still alive, was the only thing that reassured him until he could rescue her.

Kagome's family was up by the barricades that blocked off the crowd from the debris in the very front. With renewed motivation, Inuyasha shoved through the crowd, keeping as low as possible and avoiding ripping tender skin with his claws. He was desperate to get to Kagome as soon as he could, but she wouldn't be happy if he tore up a few humans along the way.

'_Damn her for caring about others when she's the one in immediate danger,'_ he thought, cursing her name before he cursed himself for knowing her so well that he knew she would think such things. Finally, he reached the front and stretched out to tap Kagome's mom on the shoulder. Her head turned and her tearful face looked back at him in surprise.

"Inuyasha!" She cried and dislodged herself from the others before she swung her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. Her body was shaking. Souta had fallen to the ground, but immediately bounced back up when he realized who had just shown up.

Inuyasha was immediately uncomfortable and merely patted her awkwardly on the back a few times before pulling her away at arms length and looking into her eyes. "Where is she? Is Kagome under all _that_?!!" He pointed a clawed finger over the barricade and to the giant heap of concrete and metal, smoke and dust still rising up into the sky. Kagome's mom nodded, fresh tears falling over her face.

Inuyasha felt a tug on his pants and looked down to see Souta staring up at him with wide, worried eyes. "Are you going to save Kagome?" he asked.

"Fuckin' right I am," he muttered. "Wait here, runt, I'll get her out of there fast." He bent low to the ground, preparing to jump, like a dog sitting on it's haunches, and sprang up as far into the air as he could, flying over the barricades and the dozens of workers and their loud machines. He heard the loud gasps and shouts of the people from below, pointing and crying out, wondering what the heck he could possibly be, before he landed smack-dab in the middle of the giant heap.

He had to cover his eyes for a few seconds against the intense floodlights that had been set up so the humans could see in the rapidly diminishing light. Ignoring the outraged shouts of the workers, he pressed an ear to the rubble and concentrated on listening to the noises below the pile.

It was, of course, impossible, as the loud machinery didn't allow him to hear anything else-- like the worker who had come up behind him and grabbed onto his arm. Lucky for him, Inuyasha remembered that he wasn't back in his own time.

"Hey!" The man bellowed. "What the hell are you doing?! It's dangerous here, get to where it's safe!"

Inuyasha pulled him arm away easily and grabbed onto the man's shoulders. "Turn those fucking contraptions off so I can hear!"

"What?!" The man shouted.

"Turn. Off. Those. Fucking. Machines!!"

The man shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know what your dysfunction is, but you're crazy if you think we're going to stop working!!" He cried back.

"You're digging in the wrong spot!" Inuyasha pointed to the machines. "I can tell you where the people are that are still alive!" He pointed to his ears.

"You're fucking crazy!"

"You're fucking stupid!" He growled in frustration and stepped away from the man, crouching down as he did before and launched himself into the air again. This time, his target was the loud machines.

After a few good hits with his sword, the machines fell silent, and the crowd speechless, all but Souta, who cheered him on from the front of the barricade. Finally able to hear, Inuyasha ran back up to the middle of the rubble, ignoring the shocked silence of the workers and the bystanders, and pressed his head again to the rubble.

Nothing.

Okay, he couldn't panic yet. It didn't mean she was dead, it just meant she wasn't in that spot. He sniffed at the pile, and moved a few feet to the left, before he pressed his ear down again.

Sobbing.

Someone was buried under there, sobbing. He sniffed at the spot again, and then shot up to his feet, pulling up giant pieces of concrete and metal. "Here!!" He shouted to the worker. "She's alive! She's breathing, right here!!!" Peaces of debris flew over his head as he dug and dug.

The worker tentatively walked over to Inuyasha. "How can you tell?" He asked slowly.

"I can hear her crying. And I can smell her. Are you going to help, or not, dammit?!"

The man stood and watched Inuyasha for a few seconds, obviously trying to decide whether he was insane or not. He shook his head. "Well, it's not like we've gotten anywhere with the way we've been doing it so far," he mumbled, before waving over the rest of his crew. "Over here, men! We've got a live one! Bring your shovels, we're digging her out!!"

Inuyasha sighed in relief that the man hadn't taken his strange looks into consideration. He wouldn't have been able to stand it if Kagome didn't get help because the stupid humans were overcome by their fear of demons. Turning back to the rubble, he let loose a growl deep in his throat. "We're coming Kagome."

.o0o0o0o0o.

Minutes after Inuyasha arrived on the scene, Kagome regained consciousness, still trapped in her living grave.

At first, she thought she'd gone to heaven. But no, she hurt too much for it to be a world after death, and not nearly enough to be hell. After a few seconds of regaining her bearings, she realized that she was still stuck. And she had not died.

Why?

Why was she still alive? How long had she been trapped under here without food or water? How was it-

"-ome!!!"

-that she, out of everyone else buried here survived so long? She should have been dead by now. She couldn't even feel her tongue anymore, it had dried and cracked a while ago, and it now felt like sandpaper in her mouth

"-gome!!"

Ugh, and now she was imagining someone calling out her name from the sky. It hadn't been the first time since she'd been trapped that she had conjured up a rescue. She'd thought up a hundred different ways that she could be rescued, even going so far as to imagine Inuyasha had somehow dug her out all on his own, and then confessed his undying love for her.

"-agome!!"

But she knew now to ignore the imaginary shouts that were coming from above. It just hurt all the worse when it turned out to be all in her mind, and she didn't think she could take anymore pain. Physically or mentally.

"-od dammit, wench! Answer me!"

Oh. Great. Now it was back to the Inuyasha fantasy. Of course, before, in her last scenario, he'd been kind and sweet and worried. Not at all like him of course, and she couldn't help but wonder why he was so rudely realistic this time around.

"Fuck!! Kagome! Can you hear me?!"

"Chill out boy, I don't think she's alive!"

"Fuck she isn't! I can _smell_ her, you bastard! I know she's still alive!"

…Well, in her near-death experience her imagination sure had become much more real. If she didn't know any better, she'd think Inuyasha really was standing above her, throwing masses of concrete off to the sides.

"I think maybe using the crane would be a better idea rather than-"

"Keh! I don't need the help of that ridiculous contraption! Just let me dig her out, dammit! Kagome! Can you hear me?!"

Oh, what the hell. She was going to die anyway. Might as well die with her mind conjuring up a rescue rather than feeling the loneliness that had obviously been settled around her during the past few days.

"I-Inuya-" She croaked out, her tongue nearly blocking her air passage. "Inuyasha."

"She's down there, I can smell her!! Come on, faster! Faster!!"

Hope sprang up in Kagome's chest, Inuyasha's voice becoming clearer in her head each second. "Inuyasha…." She willed her voice to become stronger. It hurt speaking louder than a whisper. "I-Inuyasha!"

"Kagome, I can hear you, I'm almost there, hang on!"

He had to be close; she could hear him and what sounded like dozens of others digging, metal scraping concrete, and shouts and grunts of men working together to get her out. And in the middle of it all was Inuyasha, flinging out threats and curses as if they were basic words, coming to her rescue.

He always came to her rescue.

The sudden flood of pure feeling washed through her, and she wanted nothing but to touch him. But to have him hold her again. She'd been alone in a grave, buried as if she were dead, for far to long. She needed his warmth. She needed him to tell her that she was still alive.

The tiny pinpricks of light that had shone through in the day were now glowing in the artificial flashlights of rescue workers. She could see them waving about erratically as the tiny gaps became larger and larger. She closed her eyes as dust and dirt fell every so often from the efforts of her rescuers. She wanted out. She wanted out NOW.

And then, in all his glory, she could see his face; looking down at her from the large hole he'd created in the rubble, finally wide enough for Kagome's body to be squeezed through.

She cried, tears of great relief as Inuyasha's rough hand reached down through the small opening, stretching as far as it would go, reaching out to her.

"Kagome." He growled out, his face twisted in pure determination as his clawed fingertips shook with the effort.

Her eyes had blurred with her tears, and for a moment it seemed like a wonderfully beautiful dream, the fuzzy outline of the boy who was coming to save her with the bright, intense spotlight sending radiant-like light down around him.

Kagome slowly moved her arm up. Up through the hole that would barely squeeze her body through. Up towards her very source of life. The tips of her fingers brushed against his, and suddenly his hand was wrapped securely around her own, and he was lifting her, up though the rubble and the dirt and the grime.

She broke free.

The warm, humid air brushed across her body, and she relished in the feeling before being hugged up against a body so familiar it overwhelmed her.

Fresh tears leaked down as she wailed and wrapped her arms weekly around Inuyasha's neck.

The cheering that thundered around them didn't register in her mind. All she knew was that she was safe, because she was with Inuyasha, and he wouldn't let anything happen to her again. She was never, ever leaving his side.

Only seconds later she was being pulled away. Away from his warmth. People were grabbing at her, holding her down onto something. She started to panic, weakly struggling as she was strapped down to some sort of board. She tried to speak his name, tried to call out to him, but her throat was dry and swollen from dehydration still, and the panic closed up her throat completely. All she could do was cough.

"Kagome! Kagome, I'll be there, just go with them! I'll be there!" His voice was distant, muffled; yet she could still hear the roughness in his tone, and it made her struggle more.

Suddenly her mother's worried face was looking down at her, smiling through her own tears, and a new sense of relief washed through her. Her mom stayed by her side as she was rushed into the back of an ambulance. She was with her as she faded in and out on the ride to the emergency hospital. She was with her as she was rushed into the Emergency Room.

And then the doctors knocked her out.

She dreamed of Inuyasha's hand.

.o0o0o0o0o.

She's allliiiiveee!!! Oh, aren't you all so happy?

Not much else to stay tuned for, except some awesome Inuyasha/Kagome action. It is labeled as a romance, right? Lol.

I hope you've enjoyed chapter one, and be sure to expect a great ending in chapter two.

Thanks for reading. Reviews and crits are more than welcome, they're _wanted_.

SugarRos


	2. Affirmation

Hello!

Welcome back to Earthshake!

This is the final chapter. My second completed fanfiction ever (the first is not up anywhere), and one of the shortest continuation stories I've ever written. I have to say that I needed a break from Pretty Kagome and From the Future, and thought that writing a two-chapter story would be a nice distraction. (sorry!)

…So now I'll go back to Pretty Kagome until I need another distraction. XD

Enjoy!

SugarRos

.o0o0o0o0o.

**Dedication:** Earthshake as a whole is dedicated to Kaeru Shisho for being a wonderful beta for this story.

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha and the gang do not belong to me. But maybe one day, when I take over the world and all, I'll enslave Takahashi-sensei and demand she hand over their souls so that I might force them to do my bidding….

.o0o0o0o0o.

Earthshake: Affirmation

.o0o0o0o0o.

A timid knock was heard from the door, and Kagome drew her attention away from the cartoon she was watching on the hospital room TV and sighed, wondering if she'd have to be poked with anymore needles today. She'd already gone in for two tests this morning, and didn't feel like being prodded or examine any more. She grit her teeth, and tried to calm herself. "Come in!" She sang, trying to plaster a pleasant look on her face.

One of her regular nurses poked her head in the door and smiled at Kagome, before coming in all the way and shutting the door behind her. "Higurashi, there's something the other nurses and I think you should see!" She plucked the remote from Kagome's hand, much to her displeasure, and flipped over to the local news station.

"If it's about the quake, I really don't want to hear it."

The nurse smiled sheepishly. "Well, it's about it a bit, but mostly…" Her smile turned into a grin, and Kagome could swear that a flush crept up her cheeks. "Higurashi, you didn't tell us that you had such a brave, handsome boyfriend!"

Kagome jerked back slightly. "I'm sorry? Boyfriend?"

"Shhh! It's starting!"

She shook her head, but turned back to the television, wondering what the heck was going on.

"Welcome back from the commercial break. This is channel six news at seven; I'm Ito Yumi reporting live from our studio. It's been two weeks since one of Japans' largest-scaling earthquakes hit central Tokyo, causing several buildings to collapse in on themselves, including Sakiyuki high school, which trapped more than two-hundred students under tons and tons of rubble. Yamato Kenji is live on the scene, were thousands of volunteers are working to clear out and rebuild the school. Yamato-san?"

"Thank you, Ito-san. As you've mentioned, it's been only two short weeks since the earthquake hit, and we're just now starting to rebuild and recollect our lives. Hundreds have lost their lives throughout the city, and there are many amazing survival stories, but none as amazing as the one that happened right here, where I'm standing.

"Sakiyuki high school had collapsed on top of hundreds of students while they were in the process of taking the last exams of the school year. For three days and two nights workers dug at the rubble, pulling students from the wreckage, some much more lucky than others. Workers had dug about halfway down into the pile when they hit a block they couldn't get through, leaving students literally counting down the hours until death. However, someone entered unexpectedly out of nowhere, dressed in a bright red haori, donning some sort of K-9 ears atop his head.

Ito-san, the strength of this individual was absolutely amazing. I believe he had a friend trapped down in the wreckage, a… Higurashi Kagome, if I'm not mistaken. Once he learned that she was in danger, he pushed back security and climbed up onto the wreckage himself, picking up giant pieces of concrete and literally throwing them over his shoulder. After a few minuets other bystanders rushed in to help him. Once Higurashi was pulled from the rubble and taken away, this man continued on to uncover every single individual trapped under the school, then disappeared without a trace, some swearing that he actually flew off into the night sky. No one has seen him since. We're all wondering who this amazing person is, where he's from, where he's hiding, and why he was dressed as if he'd come from the feudal era. Back to you, Ito-san."

"Thank you, Yamato-san. We are looking for any sort of information you may have on this individual. He stood at about six feet tall, was wearing a dark red haori, had long, white hair that reached his mid-back, amber-colored eyes and white fuzzy dog ears atop his head. We're giving a money reward out to those who have information on this man. Now to Kito Hitomi for the weekend weather."

Kagome sat with her mouth hanging open as the television replayed a clip of a red-and-white blob over and over again as it leapt from the barricades and onto the wreckage and started digging away.

"Look at him go!" The nurse shouted gleefully, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"That's… um…" She tried fervently to come up with an excuse. "Why, I don't know who that is!" She stated in an extremely fake way. "I- I have never met him in my life."

The nurse smiled slyly again as she clicked the TV to mute and proceeded to tidy the room. "Oh, no need to be embarrassed, hon. Your brother told us all about him, how he's always been so protective and stuff…"

Ugh, she was going to kill Souta. "Yeah, well-"

"Buuut…" She sighed, and shook her head. "I know that it's cool to have a boyfriend that can lift all that weight and save you, but you might want to talk to him about the steroids."

Kagome coughed a little. "Steroids?"

"Don't worry, your grandfather told us that's why he's so strong. He might be cool, but steroids aren't healthy at all." With that, she gave out last smile and left the room, humming as she did.

Oh, the old man was _dead_.

.o0o0o0o0o.

Kagome huffed and placed down the unrealistically sappy romance manga she was in the middle of reading. It was making her angry, the way the heroine always just stood there and shouted out the name of her love interest over and over without doing a thing to defend herself in the least.

She snorted and shoved her back up against the raised part of the hospital bed, crossing her arms and fuming. The manga series usually cheered her up a bit, because even if she couldn't get the guy she was in love with to admit it, at least the girl in the manga could. And it was nice to read that some romances worked out in the end. …Even cheesy, ridiculously annoying romances.

The thought made her anger deflate in mere seconds. Because although Inuyasha would probably never tell her to her face that he loved her, his actions proved enough that he at least cared deeply about her.

…Just as a friend, as far as she could tell, but cared deeply nonetheless.

A soft sigh tore from her lips as she remembered how Inuyasha had looked that night as he'd reached down to pull her out of the wreckage. How the light from the tractor had shone around him, making him seem eerily holy. She had thought she'd been hallucinating.

But alas, he'd gone and saved her again. How the hell had he known she was in trouble? How had he found her underneath all that cement and broken pipes?

…How had she held on long enough for him to find her? …And why hadn't Hojou…?

Tears sprang up into her eyes, and she couldn't help the flood of emotion that washed through her body. Hojou had been annoying at times, sure, but he was the sweetest boy Kagome had ever known. She'd been so lucky to have him as a friend. He was just so… caring. None of her other friends ever brought her gifts for healing. It had only been him. And she had all but pushed him to the side, took him for granted. If she hadn't fallen for Inuyasha, then… She closed her eyes and placed a finger softly to her lips, remembering the feel of his kiss, the last word he uttered, the last breath he took.

It had been different than she'd thought a kiss would be. Of course, the circumstances had been desperate, for she'd had to make a split-second decision then and there. Hojou was dying. And when she leaned in the few inches to kiss him, a strange sort of calm had come over her. His lips had been soft, but cold, and instead of tasting anything sweet, she'd tasted the metallic blood in his mouth.

It was driving her crazy. While she thought it had been the right thing to do at the time, she couldn't get the thought out of her head that she was slightly disappointed Inuyasha hadn't been the one to feel her lips first. Her first kiss hadn't been stolen, but she certainly felt as if she'd been cheated of it.

…Which made her feel guilty all the more. Who was she to deny her dying friend his last wish? If it had laid his soul to rest, she'd done the right thing. …Hadn't she?

She let out a painstaking groan. Inuyasha was going to be so mad.

She wiped the tears that had escaped down her cheeks, steeling her reserve, and picked her manga back up, hoping the annoying little schoolgirl in the story could take her mind off things again.

A soft knock at the door jolted her from the story half an hour later, and she looked up at the door to see her attending nurse smiling mischievously at her. "Kagome? You have a _visitor_."

She didn't know if she liked the way the nurse had said 'visitor,' as if she was letting in a secret lover.

Her first, immediate thought was that it was Inuyasha, although that surely could not have been the case.

The nurse had stepped aside and let in a tall man with short black hair and the largest sunbonnet she'd ever seen placed atop his head. He wore comedically-huge, dark sunglasses, and a simple jean-and t-shirt combo, with warn-out old sneakers. There was an extremely familiar sneer on his face.

Before Kagome could ask the nurse who this strangely-dressed man was, she had left the room and shut the door, and was now alone in the room with the stranger. There was an awkward silence, before Kagome finally cleared her throat nervously and spoke up. "Um. Can I help you?"

The man folded his arms in a rather arrogant way. "Keh. What, even _you_ can't recognize me, wench?" He sneered, then lifted his hands and brought the giant glasses away, revealing that deep, amber color she knew so well.

Kagome's eyes went wide with shock as she stared up at Inuyasha. "Wha… Inuyasha?! What the-"

"Keh. Looks like your mother was right after all. I didn't get hassled once on my way over here." He exclaimed, a bit too proud of the fact than he should have been.

"Wha… But… Your hair!!" Her mouth was agape as she looked at a completely unrecognizable Inuyasha. Before he could stop her, the covers of her hospital bed were thrown back and she had jumped up and yanked the hat away, yelping as the dark hair came off with it, letting the platinum locks that usually dawned his head fall gracefully down his shoulders.

"What the hell did you think, that I cut it or something?" His smirk grew larger.

"I- well, I-" Relief flowed through her as she now stared at the hanyou she knew so well, comfortable now that he looked normal, although his usual fire rat coat was nowhere to be seen. She blinked down at his attire. "How did my mom get you to wear shoes?"

"Keh." He turned his head defiantly. "She said that I'd better do it or the people with the flashing lights would come after me." He huffed. "She didn't like it when I told her I'd just kill them if they did."

Kagome couldn't help but laugh at this. "Yeah, she wouldn't take too kindly to that." She grinned up at him, emotions seeming to rush though her faster than she could feel them. Inuyasha had finally come to see her. She knew he'd tired to before, but the reporters outside had been a giant problem, and her family had decided it would be better to wait.

She stood there, in her hospital gown, staring up at Inuyasha's beautiful, caring, worried, arrogant eyes, wondering what he had felt when he'd found her. How he felt when he pulled her back to life. She studied his face, still the same tan color she'd always known it to be, still the strong jaw line and shaggy bangs that half-hid his eyes. Momentarily forgetting that she hadn't yet told him he held her very heart, she reached up to brush his bangs away, wanting more than anything to kiss him. Then she suddenly felt woozy. But not the I'm-in-love sort of woozy, the tunnel vision sort of woozy.

Oh yeah… She hadn't actually stood up for about two weeks now.

Her knees buckled under her, and she let out a grunt as she started to collapse.

Those familiar, warm, strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her up bridal-style. Inuyasha's gruff voice growled into her ear. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, wench? You're supposed to be resting!"

"Mmm." She replied, letting her head fall into his chest as he walked her the few feet back to her bed and laid her down again. "I'm alright, really. They just haven't allowed me to move around much."

He snorted. "I can see why."

She huffed weakly. "It's so annoying! I need to move around, do something! I'm not used to staying still!"

"Yeah, well, no moving for you until you stop fainting all over the place." He was demanding, as usual. "I can barely protect you as it is. If you're weak all the time, we might as well just forget it."

Kagome smiled. "You'll protect me no matter what."

He didn't really reply, just grunted in agreement. "Whatever. What have you been doing this past two weeks, then?"

She shrugged. "Reading, that's about it. But I'm getting sick of doing that, also. I need a new distraction."

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows and leaned over, reaching for the discarded book and snatching it up off the bed. "What the hell is this crap?" He asked, looking at the sparkly pink cover with slight disgust. "These two girls look like they're about to… to mate!"

"Eh? Two girls?" She bent the top of the book back to take a look. "That's a boy." She pointed down at the pretty male on the cover.

"What the fuck?!" He exclaimed. "Why does he look like a wench?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "It's a romance manga, Inuyasha. A _shojou_. _All_ the characters look feminine.

He tiled his head the way a dog would, and turned the book over on it's side. "Kinda reminds me of that idiot Sesshoumaru."

"Mmm, your brother is very feminine-looking." She snickered. "I totally thought he was a girl when I first saw him. I think my first thought was: _'She's so beautiful!_' And then I realized she was a he."

Inuyasha smiled a small smile. "Better not let him hear you say that."

She nodded in agreement and held out her hand. "Can I have my book back? I was getting to the good part."

He grunted, but thrust the book at her. "I don't know why you read this crap, anyway. No male acts like the ones in these things."

Kagome raised her eyebrow, surprised at his remark. "Inuyasha, have you been reading my manga?"

"Keh." He turned his head to the side, lifting his nose in the air and crossing his arms.

She gasped and placed a hand to her mouth, trying to cover her humored smile. "Oh my God, Inuyasha, you read my manga!"

"Keh, I can't read that crap! I don't understand most of it." He paused, averting his eyes, a light blush gracing his cheeks. "I just look at the pictures."

"That's so cute!"

"It is not!"

She laughed. "It is!"

"Shaddup Kagome, shouldn't you be sleeping or something?" He growled.

"No way." She sighed, her annoyance slipping back. "I'm sick of sleeping and resting. I want to go running." She leaned back against her pillow and took the book from Inuyasha's hands, flipping it open to where she'd left off, although she didn't really feel like reading it much anymore. "You know what? I'm sick of reading about the perfect relationship." She muttered, sighing again for good measure, she shook her head. "This stuff just isn't realistic. The girl in this story has all these dramatic, tragic things happen to her, and every time she comes out _okay._" Her eyes had now become sad and teary as she looked up at Inuyasha. "…You know what I mean?"

.o0o0o0o0o.

"…You know what I mean?"

Inuyasha bit his lip and leaned back in his chair, watching as Kagome's demeanor fell from playful and happy to depressed. He didn't really like the way she'd said '_okay_,' like it was the most painful word she'd ever spoken.

He could understand her pain. She had, in fact, lost a lot of her friends underneath the rock-like structure that had fallen in on them. It had taken him a while to sniff her out because of the insane amounts of blood from other people covering the area. Once he'd pulled Kagome out of the wreckage, he would have stopped digging through the pile of rock then-and-there if she hadn't uttered that human's name just before she'd been swept away. "_Hojou…_" She'd moaned. And Inuyasha had instantly known what had happened to the poor bastard. Her tone was all it took.

Inuyasha had let her be taken away from him. Her mother was with her, so she'd be okay with the other humans and their ridiculously confusing contraptions and medicinal potions. Besides, he knew from her smell that she wasn't going to die. She was halfway there, maybe, but she wouldn't leave the world tonight. So instead he concentrated on digging at that pile like it was his lifeline and, in a way, it was. It would probably make Kagome feel better if she knew that that stupid male friend of hers was dug up also. Maybe she'd be able to cope with what happened a bit better if she knew her classmates were laid to rest properly.

He was glad she hadn't been there when he had finally uncovered Hojou's body.

Kagome had seen crushed, twisted bodies plenty of times before. Traveling in Inuyasha's time, fighting demons as they did, they were bound to come across gory, horrific scenes every once in a while. But he knew she wouldn't be able to handle seeing her friends' body that way. The very sight could have caused her to go away to a place where he wouldn't be able to reach her.

…It happened sometimes, humans seeing things that made their mind snap. Most never came back from such a depression.

No, Inuyasha didn't want that to happen to Kagome. Not Kagome. Kagome was the sane one in his life. The person he had to keep close in order to keep himself grounded. He would snap into something he did not want to be if she wasn't with him, wasn't the constant whisper in his ear that kept his insanity at bay.

Of course, he couldn't think of a good reply to her words, to the obvious inflection in her voice that said she wanted a mate the way the girl in her books did. Wanted some girly-looking pretty boy like Hojou to come sweep her off her feet and kiss her senseless and take her out on 'dates' and stuff. Inuyasha couldn't do that. He wasn't good with words. Not at all. And he'd certainly never kissed anyone senseless before.

It was a strange sort of roll-reversal from the usual way things happened. Kagome tended to be the one to comfort Inuyasha, not the other way around.

His heart really squeezed painfully when he suddenly smelled the salt leaking from her eyes. He drew his gaze up to see her hair covering her face like a soft curtain, watching as it shook with violent, silent sobs.

She was trying to hold it in, which made his heart hurt even worse, and he couldn't help the soft growl that rumbled deep in his chest as her pain finally bubbled up through her lips and she let out a soft wail, as quiet as one could be, bringing her hands up to cover her face as her sobs grew more vicious, as her body shook and shook and her shoulders curled up into herself.

"Oh Gods." She moaned, inhaling between sobs. "Oh Gods, Inuyasha, they all died. I told them to just hold on, to just stay with me, but they all _died_! None of them spoke back to me, they were just… And Hojou! Oh _Gods… Hojou_!" She cried out, wailed his name out with all her pain and suffering stuffed into that single name.

Inuyasha pressed his ears back against his skull and whimpered. His claws dug into the chairs' wooden armrest as he gripped on tightly to stop himself from leaping up and digging up Hojou's body so he could bring him back to life and kill him again for making Kagome feel the way she was feeling.

Of course it wasn't Hojou's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but the land beneath their feet. And Inuyasha just couldn't figure out how he could make her feel better. He just wanted her to feel better.

"Kagome…" He spoke as softly as possible, slowly reaching his hand out to push her hair back.

"_Hojou…_"

Something in the way she said his name made him stop and pull his hand back, and he couldn't help the flood of insecure thoughts that rushed through his mind. Kagome had always said Hojou was nothing more than a friend. Inuyasha wasn't so inclined to believe her when she'd appear back in his time smelling of the human brat. Then he'd wanted to kill the bastard. But Kagome had always insisted. And although he smelled the boy on her once in a while, it wasn't all the time. Inuyasha never smelled a claim, and he never sensed that Kagome was lying.

The doubts filled him now, though. She was using that voice that she used when she was crying over _his_ body, and he wasn't liking the fact that she was using the same tone for Hojou.

It was selfish of him to think so, but it plagued his mind like a spreading virus, and all he wanted to do was kill the punk all over again for taking this much of Kagome's attention.

Inuyasha was so lost in his own thoughts that he barely registered Kagome's next words.

"-kissed him!"

Wait.

WHAT?

He shot up in his seat and leaned over her bed, his ears twitching in her direction, his teeth grinding together anxiously. "Kagome, what did you say?" He couldn't help the way his tone turned harsh. Demanding.

She sobbed into her hands and shook her head, hiccupping. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do! He was dying, Inuyasha. He was dying, and he told me his one regret was me! Was not kissing me! He was bleeding and dying, and I didn't know what to do!"

Another growl pushed up through his chest. This, however, was not one of worry, but one of pure, heated, _fury_. "So you _kissed_ him?" He seethed, teeth clamped together, fists flexing, itching to pound _something_. Something needed to _die_. "You fucking _kissed_ him, Kagome?!!"

She flinched visibly, still shaking her head. "He was _dying_, Inuyasha, what could I _do_?!!"

"You could not fucking _kiss_ him, that's what you could do!" He shouted as he paced the floor in front of her bed. He wished he was back in his time, with his sword at his hip so he could just fucking cut something, _anything_ down to size. He wanted to cause destruction. He wanted to kill. He wanted to-

"Inuyasha, _please_."

What made him stop wasn't her sobs. It wasn't her wails or her tears. It wasn't even her smell.

It was a tone in her voice, an inflection that he'd never heard before, which was strange. He'd known Kagome for years. He thought he'd heard all her inflections.

This one, though…

This one made his breath catch in his throat. It made him freeze in his tracks and turn to look down at her face, which was wet with tears.

Her skin was red and blotchy, her eyes puffy and her lips swollen, her nose wet.

And she was still the most beautiful being he'd ever seen in his entire life.

"Please." Her voice was a whisper, a tremble, a sigh. And her eyes rose slowly to meet his own. "Please don't leave me. Please don't be mad. You have to understand that Hojou was in love with me, Inuyasha. He was in love with me and he was going to die, and his _one, last wish_ in his short amount of time to live was to kiss me." A soft sob escaped her red lips, and she placed a hand to her mouth to give herself time to calm down enough to keep talking. "There was blood dripping from his mouth, his lower body was crushed under concrete and he was going to die. And he wanted to kiss me. So I leaned over and I let him. I let him kiss me."

Her eyes glistened with fresh tears as her gaze never wavered from his eyes. "Was that wrong of me?" Another soft sob. "Was it really wrong? Because I've been laying here these past few weeks _agonizing_ over the fact that I let a man I don't love kiss me. I gave my friend my first kiss because I wanted him to be happy when he left me. I wanted him to remember me when he left. Was I wrong? Did I do the wrong thing?"

Inuyasha didn't speak for a long time. He stood at the foot of Kagome's bed staring down at the girl he was desperately in love with as she confessed to kissing a guy she in turn didn't love, asking if it was okay with him that she'd done it.

Of _course _it wasn't okay with him. Of _course_ he hated the fact that her lips had touched another mans'. Of _course_ he wanted to beat the shit out of somebody. That had been her first kiss, and it should've been _his_. God_dammit_.

For some reason, at that very moment, Kikyou popped into his head. And it wasn't just any image of her. It was a flash of the time she had pressed herself up against him and pulled his head down for a kiss. A kiss that had been between two people with such a history that nothing could possibly be said. The only thing that had been able to pass between the two of them at that moment was a kiss.

Kikyou. His _friend_. The woman he hadn't been in love with, or, at least, had _fallen_ out of love with. Hadn't that kiss, too, been one to sooth Kikyou's soul? That was the reason he'd let her kiss him, with her cold, earthy lips.

Inuyasha's anger deflated. Kagome had done what was in her heart, as always. And it was absolutely killing her. Would it hurt less if he told her it was okay? _Had_ she, in actuality, done the right thing?

The answer was obvious, and he suddenly felt not only like the worlds biggest asshole, but like he could actually let his anger go. His gaze broke from Kagome's, and he turned to look out the window, into the sky, which was a deep, clear blue, and spoke silently to Hojou.

'_You may have gotten her first kiss, but I've got every kiss from here on out. Got it, you little bastard?'_ The corner of his mouth curved slightly in the smallest of smirks as he heard the gentlest of whispers:

'…_.Got it.'_

And then he knew that Hojou was truly gone.

Another hiccup from Kagome brought him back to his surroundings, and he turned back to look at her still-shaking form. She wasn't sitting anymore, though. She had laid down on her side and curled her body into a ball, silently crying into her arms, which covered her face, her hair spread out like some sort of dark halo around her head.

He felt the sudden urge to comfort her, but couldn't figure the best way to do so. The only comfort he'd ever given her was saving her life every now and again. He'd never held her while she cried before.

That's what he should do, right? Hold her? It's what she did every time he needed comfort. Every time he was on deaths door, he somehow ended up in her lap as she cried over him, comforted him, hugged him. That contact had been his lifeline. The physical touch had kept him alive when he should have just off and died.

Before giving it any more thought, Inuyasha placed his hands on the end of the hospital bed and crawled slowly up the stiff mattress, shoes and all, closing in the short distance between him and the frail-looking woman quivering in her hospital gown. If she felt his added weight on the bed, she didn't make any recognition of it. Slowly, his heart reaching out to her, he laid down beside her, folding his body to match hers as he placed an arm around her stomach and pulled her back into his chest, enveloping himself with her presence, nudging the back of her neck with his nose and inhaling her scent.

Her sobs became violent again as she melted into him, grabbing the hand that he'd thrown over her and bringing it to her cheek, holding it between her two hands as she sobbed relentlessly into his fingers. He didn't know what else to do but hold her as close as humanly possible while emitting a low, comforting growl, feeling it rumble deep in his chest.

They laid like that for a little over an hour before Kagome finally calmed down enough to breath normally. He felt her squeeze his hand before she moved to turn over, scooting down and hiding her face near his clavicle, hiccupping every now and then into his chest. Once she was situated, he let out another low, rumbling growl and snorted softly. "Feeling better?"

She nodded and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I broke down like that. I don't normally-"

"Keh." He interrupted before she could finish her thought. "These aren't normal circumstances, are they?"

A long sigh broke through her lips, and he felt her breath graze across his skin. "No. Not at all."

They both went back to breathing quietly, feeling slightly drowsy after such an exhausting emotional battle, both lost in their own thoughts. Inuyasha felt the urge to put her mind to rest, and was contemplating ways to bring it up before he decided he'd just better say it in case he lost his nerve or fucked it up.

"Kagome."

"Mm?"

"You, uh…" He cleared his throat. "You did the right thing." He felt her tense up underneath him, and rushed to finish his thought before she started sobbing again. "With your friend, I mean. Hojou. You did the right thing. His soul will be at peace because you gave him the one thing he had wanted the most in his life."

Kagome had pushed herself away from him a little so she could look up into his eyes. "Inuyasha…."

"Keh!" He muttered, a light flush gracing his cheeks. "You asked me if it was the right thing to do, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, I'm telling you it is. You did the right fucking thing. I'm sure he's very happy, wherever he is."

New tears filled her eyes, and for a second, he thought he'd said something wrong, but then she broke out into one of her brilliant smiles, and his heart sped. Yeah, the tears were falling again, but she was smiling, and that was a good sign. "You said his name right, Inuyasha."

He growled. "What do you mean, wench?"

"I mean you said Hojou's name right. You didn't call him 'Hobo' or 'human brat.'" She let out a tiny giggle. "You said his name right."

"Well, I can show _some_ respect for the dead, can't I?" He muttered gruffly. "Besides, he kept you talking for a bit down there, didn't he?"

She diverted her eyes and nodded, tears still leaking from them. "He stayed awake and talking for two whole days." She drew in a shaky breath, and Inuyasha could smell another onslaught of tears coming. "It must have been so painful for him." Her voice cracked, wavered, and she inhaled again as she re-hid her face in his neck. "He must have known he was about to die… It was just so… out of the blue when he brought up the kiss."

He frowned, still not sure if she was okay with what happened. He opened his mouth to reply when Kagome uttered something so quiet even he couldn't pick it up. "What was that?" He asked, pulling his head back this time to get a good look at her.

She didn't meet his gaze. "I… I wanted you…" It was then that her eyes fixed on his, all wet and dewy from her tears. "I wanted you to have my first kiss." She all but whispered. "I wanted it to be you."

Inuyasha's heart stopped. His breath hitched. His eyes widened at her innocent-like confession, and it took a few seconds for what she said to really hit him. He couldn't speak.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to save that for you." Her full lips trembled, and more tears fell. "I really wanted to find out what kissing was like with you." With that finally said, she squeezed her eyes shut, and fisted her hands into his shirt, trying to bury her head back into his chest.

"Kagome." He stated gruffly once his throat started working again.

She sniffed loudly.

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face, bringing her nose close to his. "Kagome." It was a whisper this time, a sort of comfort, and he rolled over so he was on top of her, his left arm placed securely under her shoulders, his finger still under her chin. The gasp she let out sent a sort of soft chill up his spine, and all he wanted to do was make her feel okay.

She wanted him to kiss her? He could do that. He could kiss her if it meant she'd be okay again. If it meant she'd stay with him and still comfort him when he needed her to. If it meant she'd come back with him when she was physically able and let him run with her on his back again.

He could kiss her.

"Inuyasha…?" She whispered, her eyes drowsy, her lips parted, her chest heaving underneath him with heavy breaths.

He found the parted back in the hospital gown she was wearing, and traced her upper spine lightly with his fingertips, listening to her gasp and sigh as he brushed over sensitive skin. She was soft all over. It was driving him insane. "Kagome…." He whispered back to her, nudging her nose with his own, feeling her breath on his lips, pressing his hips into hers, tracing her skin. "No one else." He urged to her, his voice low and rough. "No kissing anyone else after me."

She let out a moan and nodded, and, with her nod as confirmation, he pressed his lips onto hers, hard.

She sucked in air through her nose and pressed back just as intense.

Their kiss became needy. Rushed. Inuyasha couldn't control the flood of pure feeling that pooled inside him, that sent pleasure shooting straight through him as he felt Kagome's lips nibble at him hungrily. He swept his tongue out to taste more of her.

More. He need more.

His hands felt hot as they moved over her back, rougher than before, braver than ever as he found her hips, her sides, trying to touch as much skin as possible under the paper-ish material that covered her.

She was grabbing at his shirt, her nails scraping lightly over his skin, making him _feel_ like never before. The pooling got more intense, more urgent as she pulled his shirt up to his arms.

Annoyed at the fabric, Inuyasha sat up, noting Kagome's moan of protest, and tore the flimsy material over his head, thrusting it to the side before ducking down and capturing her lips again.

He found it came naturally, kissing. He was surprised at how intense the feelings were, how they dictated his movements, controlled how he nipped at her bottom lip, at her tongue, and it still wasn't enough. He needed to taste more of her.

More. He needed more.

His kisses moved from Kagome's mouth to her chin, and he felt a thrill at the way she breathed out his name and bore her neck to him, slender and vulnerable. Oh Gods. He was losing it. He was losing all rational thought as his lips moved slowly down her throat, kissing and nibbling and lapping at her skin. He pressed his lips to her clavicle and relished in the way she gasped and thrust up into him.

That was the spot. He nipped at her skin, teasing, caressing the curve of her side, the swell of her hip, listening to her heartbeat, watching her chest swell, her lips part, her throat purr.

"Kagome."

She moaned in response.

"Kagome."

She breathed and gasped and pressed into him.

"_Kagome._"

"Oh Gods…" She murmured, her voice trembling. "_Inuyasha_." It was a breath, a gasp, a whisper.

He was going absolutely insane, and he needed her to know that this was it. She was his. He wasn't letting her go ever again. He placed his lips to her ear and growled. "You're mine."

A single nod.

"Mine."

"Inuyasha." She breathed. "_I love you._"

His heart burst.

And Kagome's cheeks were suddenly wet with silent tears again. Ones that showed her raw, pure emotion at their actions and words.

He brought his head back to look down at her, her entire mouth red and puffy from his rough kisses, her eyes wet again from her salted tears. In this moment, Inuyasha felt that he was the closest he had ever been with anyone. He felt the safest he'd been since his mother had been alive. In this very moment, Inuyasha knew that he had found the one person that would be his entire world. "I want you to be with me, Kagome. No more kissing anyone but me."

"I love you." She whispered.

"No more kissing other guys, even dying ones."

She nodded.

"Only me."

She smiled. "It's always only you."

He leaned down again, his eyes never wavering from hers, and pressed a light, soft kiss against her lips.

This time it was slower, softer, more gentle. One of comfort.

"I love you, too."

.o0o0o0o0o.

Two weeks later, Kagome wheeled herself out of the hospital, her family not far behind as she pushed out into the sunlight and into the massive horde of reporters surrounding the entrance.

She smiled wearily, hesitantly, a bit shocked, into the cameras as multiple microphones were shoved into her face, and people started shouting questions at her from left and right. Her mother had come up behind her and was now trying to shoo away the reporters.

"Give her some room already, come on now!" She cried as she waved her hands around wildly.

One reporter stayed put. "Kagome Higurashi, I'm Yamato Kenji, with Channel Six News at Seven, and I'd like to ask you a question!"

Kagome nodded. "Go ahead."

"What's the first thing you're going to do, now that you're out of the hospital?" The mic was shoved into her face once again.

Kagome looked up into the clear blue sky, squinting slightly at the bright sunlight she hadn't seen in weeks. Then she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, slipping them on before she looked back up at the reporter, the biggest grin she could muster planted across her face.

"I'm going to visit my boyfriend in the Feudal Era."

She smiled at Yamato-san's confused expression as she was wheeled around the press and towards her mothers' car.

.o0o0o0o0o.

THE END.

.o0o0o0o0o.

Thanks again for reading! (and hopefully reviewing as well?) I can honestly say it's done, and I'm happy with it, and I can't wait to read what you guys have to say.

Back to work on Pretty Kagome: Revised! See you all there!

SugarRos


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